The Return of Celia Synoptics: Part Three

"Where are we going?" whispered Rocky to DeSoni. He didn't
like straying from the main hallways, and there didn't seem to be anyone around.

"Probably an empty lab," said DeSoni, in his
typical carefree style.

"This room," said the pretty red Aisha, holding
a door open for the red Ruki and yellow Aisha.

The lights were off, but DeSoni didn't worry.
It was standard procedure to preserve the Space Station's limited energy supplies
without exhausting its generators.

So the tiny yellow really Alien Aisha went on
in and reached for the paw-scan light, only to find his entire arm enveloped
in some giant paw.

Thinking quickly, he shouted "ROCKY!" and twisted
so his other paw could turn the light on. It was not a pleasant sight.

"SONI!" shouted Rocky. He knew something like
this would happen. Things like this always happened around DeSoni. He dashed
forward to free his friend from the giant green Alien Aisha.

The Ruki may have super-speed, but unfortunately
not super-invulnerability or super-balance. Simply put, the pretty "red Aisha"
stuck out a back paw and he tripped before he went two steps. It wouldn't have
been too bad, except for the fact that, since he'd been utilizing his speed,
he went flying and landed with a smack against the floor, tangling his four
legs.

"You do mean 'Sonix,' don't you?" she said, whipping
off the blue hat to reveal two extra earstalks. Her voice was different too,
lower and colder.

DeSoni's mouth dropped open and his earstalks
stood straight up in horror and shock. "Ce-Celia?! Celia Synoptics!?" he couldn't
help gasping.

"Who?" asked Rocky, scrambling to get his feet
in order.

The giant who held DeSoni leaned over and looked
closer at the Aisha. "Guess this proved me wrong. If he knows Miss Synoptics
he must be the traitor." He seemed almost sad at the prospect.

"My childhood rival," said DeSoni. "She hates
my guts because I topped her on a stupid test!" He squirmed, yanking on his
arm, to no avail against the rock-solid grip.

By now Rocky had untangled his many legs and
rushed over to DeSoni's side. He grabbed the arm that trapped his friend.

"Get your dirty paws off my friend!" Rocky growled
angrily. The giant found himself straining against the super-powered Ruki's
strength.

"Get out of our way!" screeched Celia. "Green!
Take out the Ruki!"

"Easier said then done," grunted Green. Finally,
he tossed DeSoni aside and barreled into Rocky headlong.

The Ruki just barely braced himself in time.
Celia's screams of outrage were barely heard; they were both straining so hard.
The red Alien Aisha obviously had no idea how the lanky Ruki was holding up
against her giant minion.

"Hang in there, Rocky!" shouted DeSoni, scanning
the walls for something, anything to help. His eyes fell on the light paw-scanner.
Maybe… if he distracted the giant, Rocky could make use of his super-speed.
His buddy could whip around behind the green guy and knock him out.

Celia spotted her nemesis and leaped before he
could do anything. Maybe it was many, many years since they'd last seen each
other, but DeSoni was scarcely any bigger. Her full weight bashing into him
was more than enough to knock him down. He fell and she yanked his tiny arms
behind him cruelly, still kneeling on his back to hold him down.

Stubbornly, DeSoni refused to do either, except
grit his teeth at the pain scorching itself up to his shoulders.

While still leaning on top of the tiny Aisha,
Celia held his arms down with one paw and yanked a blaster out with the other.
She aimed at Rocky, still locked in a battle of strengths with green. Neither
strong-guy noticed her, but DeSoni felt her shift of balance. Painfully, he
turned his head just enough to see what she was doing.

He was just in time to see her yank back on the
trigger.

"ROCKY!!" he shouted, furiously struggling to
get up. It was hopeless; he was just too small.

No amount of super-speed can help anyone if they
can't use it. All Rocky's attention was focused on bracing his legs and straining
with his arms. The laser hit him directly in the center of his back, and he
crumbled to the ground.

"No! No!!" shouted DeSoni, trying feverishly
to wrench himself from Celia. His old enemy holstered the blaster and yanked
his arms back again, painfully twisting, to haul him up to his knees.

"That was a coward's shot," grumbled Green.

"Shut up!" she scolded.

"You've changed, Celia," gasped DeSoni, giving
up the fight and staring at his downed best friend in horrified silence.

"You never hurt anyone else before. Rocky did
nothing to you-" he broke off and clenched his teeth as she twisted his arms
behind him. "Or is it an insult to you that I had a friend?" he whispered through
gritted teeth.

The red Alien Aisha stared. "What is this?" she
asked, deceptively calm, and motioned to green to hold the tiny Alien Aisha
minus two earstalks down. "A psychoanalysis?" Her eyes narrowed dangerously
and her tone turned cold. "I've had a lot of those, and all because of you.
Apparently it's a sign of psychological imbalance to beat up a freak!" She glared
evilly.

Green yanked DeSoni upright all the way, holding
a massive paw over each of DeSoni's small arms. The tiny yellow Aisha could
hardly move.

The red Alien Aisha grew angrier. Suddenly she
unholstered her blaster and fired him in the chest. As DeSoni crumbled, held
up only by green's massive paws, Celia whispered menacingly.

"It may be behind you, Derek, but you didn't
suffer through years of humiliating 'special' classes and teachers! You didn't
have your entire future dashed to shreds. It will never be behind me!"

******

2000 hours, Space Faerie's Ready Room

The Space Faerie paced back and forth. He was
supposed to be here an hour ago!

The lieutenants she had sent out returned and
bowed. She nodded her head for them to report.

"His parents were suspicious of my questions,
but obviously had no idea what I was talking about."

"His lecture ended on schedule."

"He did not return to his room after the lecture."

"He did not visit any meal or snack room."

"He did not visit any entertainment room, research
room, or laboratory."

"He did not leave S.S.T.I. through any monitored
paths."

The Space Faerie clenched her fists. "Then where
is he?! It's not like DeSoni to miss an arrangement!" She waved her hands dismissively
and the lieutenants left. She had one duty that had to be done alone.

She paged Fyora. "My queen? We have a situation…"

******

Rocky woozily woke to a horribly acrid smell.
Gradually, he realized he was lying on his stomach and someone was whispering
his name. He blinked his eyes open, but his vision was so blurry the whole room
appeared to be underwater. The voice kept whispering, "Rickster_Rocker…" He
blurrily shook his head to clear it, only succeeding in the opposite. All the
shapes and colors seemed to whirl together.

A gentle paw lifted his head and poured something
down his throat. Slowly things began to clear as the medicine took its effect.
A very pretty, very mature looking yellow Alien Aisha knelt beside him, with
another yellow Alien Aisha off to the side with the Space Faerie.

Automatically, the Ruki tried to push himself
upright, but suddenly a point in the center of his back began burning like a
fire. He groaned and clung tightly to the rug he was laying belly-down on, trying
desperately not to cry out.

"Rocky?" asked the Space Faerie, seeming doubtful
for the first time in her life. "Where's DeSoni? What happened?"

The pretty Alien Aisha, who Rocky rightly assumed
had to be DeSoni's mom, was applying a salve to the burning spot, cooling it
to a more manageable level.

The other Alien Aisha, must be his pops,
had been scanning the room in a way nearly identical to his buddy's manner.
He finished his scrutiny and turned back to the Ruki.

"You are a friend of our son's, are you not?
That's our technology that gave you that wound, young Neopet, so don't bother
hiding anything."

The Space Faerie nodded. "It was either keep
the secret and lose you, or beg Fyora's permission to explain everything to
the emissaries. It was pure chance an ensign even stumbled into this room."
She looked around, and for the first time Rocky really noticed how bleak, dusty,
and unused the room was.

"Do you know a… a Celia Synoptics?" asked Rocky
wearily.

Mr. and Mrs. Sonix stared at Rocky in shock and
quickly began explaining the story of the evil brat to the Space Faerie. After
a minute, the faerie hushed them and motioned the red Ruki to continue.

"She was with a… huge green Alien Aisha. Nearly
twice… my size. I fought him, but we… equally matched." He paused as if he had
to really concentrate to remember what had happened. "I… I don't know what happened
after that. Celia must've shot me… from behind. Must've… taken DeSoni with them."
The poor Ruki didn't even seem all together sure of what he was saying. His
brain was still fuzzy.

"I know who he's talking about," said DeSoni's
father. "A henchman for hire, not brilliantly intelligent, and only goes by
the name of Green. But he is most certainly a giant; there's no way a common
Neopian Ruki held up against him…"

The Space Faerie gracefully held up an arm to
silence him. "Rocky? My sources indicate some very unusual attributes of yours.
Did DeSoni, by any chance, ever give you a potion?"

The Ruki seemed to be drifting off to sleep again.
He blinked his giant eyes wearily and grinned. "XG12C," he whispered, and closed
his eyes.

"The military was feverishly trying to locate
that formula since Derek disappeared," said Mr. Sonix. "Until, without explanation,
the Madam Commander called off the search a couple months ago."

Mrs. Sonix nodded and stood up from where she'd
been kneeling at the now unconscious Ruki's side. "It was the last thing Derek
was assigned to work on, a potion to grant superpowers to the drinker. Speed,
strength, vision, and hearing I believe."

"So that's how he held up," said the Space Faerie
thoughtfully. "But what's wrong with him now?" She gestured to his quiet body.

"It was strictly a non-regulation weapon," explained
DeSoni's dad. "Nothing we use currently leaves any marks or contains a confusion
draught. It seems clear to me Rocky wasn't altogether sure of what was going
on just now, and that's the only explanation. He must've received a rather high-level
blast."

"Don't worry," said DeSoni's mom. "I've seen
it before. His mind and body are simply shutting down to compensate. He needs
to sleep for at least half an hour, otherwise his body may not be able to control
whatever toxins that spiteful brat mixed in."

The Space Faerie rubbed her temples in exhaustion.
"He can have his half-hour. We'll use it for planning and searching. I really
hope DeSoni's okay."

"So do we," whispered DeSoni's mother.

To be continued...

Author's Note: I'm sure any fan of my first DeSoni/Rocky series was
just WAITING for Rocky to use his powers in a big fight scene. Well, got your
wish if you did! Let me know what you think--I can't get better if I don't know
which my best written parts are!